Wireless communications networks have found great utility in many commercial and military applications. However, some types of wireless networks become less efficient in transmitting information when a large number of nodes are attempting to communicate thereon.
One challenge faced in communications networks is the scheduling of communications slots for each node in the network. In networks with small numbers of nodes it may be efficient to permanently assign a recurring communication slot to each node according to a predetermined schedule. Where large numbers of nodes are involved, however, the permanent pre-assignment of slots may create an unacceptably long communication cycle as each node waits its turn to communicate according to the predetermined schedule. The addition of multiple frequencies or channels may reduce delays by creating more communication slots, but fielded transceivers may not be equipped to communicate on the number of channels required for a large-scale, multi-channel, low delay network.
Attempts to assign priority to certain nodes in a network have included the concept of artery nodes, which has been disclosed and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/867,481, “Artery Nodes,” filed Jun. 14, 2004, having inventors C. David Young et al. and assigned to the same assignee as the present application, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Artery nodes are nodes that form an interconnected arterial sub-network within the network and that assign slots to neighboring nodes. A sub-network of artery nodes has been found to efficiently manage network communications in many different network topology types. However, as currently defined the concept of artery nodes may not converge within a satisfactory time for some network topologies. Furthermore, the network may be required to redefine each node's status as an artery node or as a non-artery node each time a node enters or leaves the network. When nodes are constantly entering and exiting a communications network in an ad-hoc fashion, the network may not converge to an artery sub-network solution by the time another node enters or exits the network.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a communications network that efficiently manages a large number of nodes.
It is another object of the invention to provide a method of quickly converging on an arterial subnetwork within a communications network
A feature of the invention is the application of a set of rules that reduce the time necessary to form an interconnected, minimal arterial sub-network within a communications network, where the nodes in the arterial sub-network assign communication slots to neighboring nodes.
An advantage of the invention is a decrease in time necessary for a network to converge to an arterial sub-network solution.
Another advantage of the invention is that the resulting arterial sub-network is minimal.